Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH,
giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
According to scholars the triennial system of Torah
study was used during the first century. This would imply that this was one of
Yahshua’s first sermons he delivered in a local synagogue in Nazareth. We know
this from the Haftarah attached to this Torah reading – Yeshayahu 61 –
After Yahshua returns from his “mikvah” and the 40 day
fast in the wilderness we read the following:
Luk 4:14 And יהושע returned in the power of the Spirit to Galil, and news of Him
went out through all the surrounding country.
Luk 4:15 And He
was teaching in their congregations, being praised by all.
Luk 4:16 And He
came to Natsareth, where He had been brought up. And according to His practice,
He went into the congregation on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 And the
scroll of the prophet Yeshayahu was handed to Him. And having unrolled the
scroll, He found the place where it was written:
Luk 4:18 “The
Spirit of יהוה is upon Me,1 because He has anointed Me to bring the
Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim
release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away
crushed ones with a release, Footnote: 1Isa. 61:1-3.
Luk 4:19 to
proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה.”1 Footnote: 1Isa.
61:1-2.
Luk 4:20 And
having rolled up the scroll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And
the eyes of all in the congregation were fixed upon Him.
Luk 4:21 And He began
to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been filled in your hearing.”
Luk 4:22 And all
were bearing witness to Him, and marvelled at the pleasant words that came out
of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not the son of Yosĕph?”
Luk 4:29 And rising up they drove Him out of the city,
and brought Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, in order
to throw Him down.
Luk 4:30 But He, passing through the midst of them,
went away.
Why is this so significant in the light of this week’s Torah portion?
The Second Writings
seem to suggest that it was after announcing Yahshua’s intention of healing the
broken hearted, proclaiming release to the captive, recovery of sight to the
blind, and the setting free of the crushed that his ministry began to testify
of these blessings.
Yes/Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Master יהוה is upon Me, because יהוה has
anointed Me to bring good news to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound,
Isa 61:2 to
proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה, and the day of vengeance of our
Elohim, to comfort all who mourn,
Isa 61:3 to
appoint unto those who mourn in Tsiyon: to give them embellishment for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
And they shall be called trees of righteousness, a planting of יהוה, to be
adorned.
Isa 61:4 And they
shall rebuild the old ruins, raise up the former wastes. And they shall restore
the ruined cities, the wastes of many generations.
Isa 61:5 And
strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner be
your ploughmen and your vinedressers.
Isa 61:6 But you
shall be called, ‘Priests of יהוה,’ ‘Servants of our Elohim’ shall be
said of you. You shall consume the strength of the gentiles, and boast in their
esteem.
Isa 61:7 Instead
of your shame and reproach, they rejoice a second time in their portion.
Therefore they take possession a second time in their land, everlasting joy is
theirs.
Isa 61:8 “For I, יהוה, love
right-ruling; I hate robbery for burnt offering. And I shall give their reward
in truth, and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Isa 61:9 “And
their seed shall be known among the gentiles, and their offspring in the midst
of the peoples. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed
יהוה has
blessed.”
Isa 61:10 I
greatly rejoice in יהוה, my being exults in my Elohim. For
He has put garments of deliverance on me, He has covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels.
Isa 61:11 For as
the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the seed to shoot up, so
the Master יהוה causes righteousness and praise to shoot up before all the nations!
Beresheet/Gen 20:1 And Aḇraham
set out from there to the land of the South, and dwelt between Qaḏĕsh and Shur, and
stayed in Gerar.
ויסעH5265 משׁםH8033
אברהםH85
ארצהH776
הנגבH5045
וישׁבH3427
ביןH996
קדשׁH6946
וביןH996
שׁורH7793
ויגרH1481
בגרר׃H1642
Gen 20:1
Avraham moved towards a parched land (S5045 means
south or parched in Hebrew), he stays in a place which means “chewing the cud”
between two cities, Kadesh/Qadesh which
means “set apart” and Shur which could mean “travelling about”
implying his nomadic existence (itinerant ministry).
We can therefore midrashically deduce that those
who follow in his footsteps, will also find themselves in a spiritual
wilderness knowing that it is the set
apart place until Messiah comes to rescue us and that our lives here on earth are of a temporary and passing
nature. It is with this mind - set that we arm ourselves for this life and
prepare ourselves for the next.
Gen 20:2 And Aḇraham said concerning
Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of Gerar
sent and took Sarah.
Here we have a replaying of the events of chapter
12, the difference here is that YHVH has entered into covenant with Avraham and
even changed his name, yet Avraham repeats his transgression. Avraham puts at
risk the promise of his seed because he allowed Abimelek to take Sarah. Once
again we see here that it is not our faithfulness that secures YHVH’s favour,
but it is YHVH’s favour that enables us to be faithful. We learn once again
that the Avrahamic covenant rests upon YHVH’s faithfulness and not man’s. The
time would come when he who is Faithful and True would eternally secure the
covenant between YHVH and men – Yahshua Ha Mashiach.
2Ti 2:13 If we are not trustworthy, He remains
trustworthy, it is impossible for Him to deny Himself.
Avraham may not have had much to say about the king
taking his wife, as the Hebrew clearly states that Avimelech sent and took
Sarah.
הואH1931 וישׁלחH7971
אבימלךH40
מלךH4428
גררH1642
ויקחH3947
אתH853
שׂרה׃H8283
Perhaps this is also a prophetic parable in that
while the seed of Avraham are on their way back to the Promised Land, they will
encounter things been taken away from them by the “gerim” or sojourners.
We notice how the church has taken many Torah
truths and adapted them to suit themselves.
Gen 20:3 But
Elohim came to Aḇimeleḵ in a dream by night,
and said to him, “See, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have
taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
Note the sentence has already been passed, the king
is as good as dead.
Gen 20:4
However, Aḇimeleḵ had not come near
her, and he said, “יהוה, would You slay a righteous nation also?
Righteous! In whose eyes?
Gen 20:5 “Did he
not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my
brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands I have
done this.”
1Pe 3:1 In the same way, wives, be subject to your
own husbands, so that if any are disobedient to the Word, they, without a word,
might be won by the behaviour of their wives,
1Pe 3:2 having seen your blameless behaviour in fear.
1Pe 3:3 Your adornment should not be outward –
arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on dresses –
1Pe 3:4 but the hidden Man of the heart, with the
incorruptible ornament of a meek and peaceable spirit, which is of great value
before Elohim.
1Pe 3:5 For in this way, in former times, the
set-apart women who trusted in Elohim also adorned themselves, being subject to
their own husbands,
1Pe 3:6 as Sarah obeyed Aḇraham, calling him
master, of whom you became children, doing good, and not frightened by any
fear.
1Pe 3:7 In
the same way, husbands, live understandingly together, giving respect to the
wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the favour of
life, so that your prayers are not hindered.
Gen 20:6 And
Elohim said to him in a dream, “Yea, I know that you did this in the integrity
of your heart, and so I kept you from sinning against Me. For this reason I did
not let you touch her.
The Hebrew says “Ha Elohim.” Avimelech address YHVH as
“The Elohim” obviously distinguishing YHVH from the pagan gods he was
worshipping.
האלהיםH430
Gen 20:7 “And now,
return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and let him pray for you and you
live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall certainly die, you and
all that are yours.”
– According to Rashi, Sarah was
Terach’s granddaughter. The Hebrew word for father, “av”, can also mean
grandfather, great grandfather, and so on. The Hebrew word for daughter, “bat”,
can also mean granddaughter, great granddaughter and so on. According to Targum
and Jasher’s book, Sarah was the daughter of Avraham’s uncle, in other words,
his cousin (then Terach was her grandfather).
Gen 20:8 So Aḇimeleḵ rose
early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in
their hearing. And the men were greatly frightened.
Gen 20:9 And Aḇimeleḵ
called Aḇraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? In what
have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my reign a great
sin? You have done matters to me that should not be done.”
Gen 20:10 And Aḇimeleḵ said
to Aḇraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done
this matter?”
Gen 20:11 And Aḇraham
said, “Only because I said to myself, the fear of Elohim is not in this
place, and they shall kill me for the sake of my wife.
Gen 20:12 “And
yet, she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the
daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.
Gen 20:13 “And it
came to be, when Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said
to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place,
wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
We see a pattern here of how the seed of Avraham are to
intercede for the seed of Adam. It is only through Avrahamic faith that one can
be rescued or saved. This salvation is a not one that you can pick and choose
what you want or do not want, this is a package deal very clearly explained in the
Torah. It will serve us well to pay particular attention to every detail of
this covenant that YHVH made with Avraham and his seed.
A possible messianic midrash of the above mentioned
reality is that we as messianics must not feel embarrassed and remain silent
about the core issues of our faith in YHVH and His Torah. We often remain
silent or compromise certain truths so as not to experience major rejection
from our brothers and sisters who operate in a faith of mixture and
disobedience.
Gen 20:14 Then Aḇimeleḵ took
sheep, and cattle, and male and female servants, and gave them to Aḇraham.
And he returned Sarah his wife to him.
Gen 20:15 And Aḇimeleḵ said,
“See, my land is before you, dwell wherever it is good in your eyes.”
Gen 20:16 And to Sarah
he said, “See, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. See, it
is to you a covering of eyes before all who are with you and before all others,
and you are cleared before everyone.”
Gen 20:17 And Aḇraham
prayed to Elohim, and Elohim healed Aḇimeleḵ, and
his wife, and his female servants, so they bore children,
Gen 20:18 for יהוה had
closed up all the wombs of the house of Aḇimeleḵ
because of Sarah, Aḇraham’s wife.
So then let us return to our question – what significance
would this Torah portion have in regards to this being Yahshua’s first and
possibly last sermon in Nazareth?
Is this perhaps a secret message to his followers? that
even in the midst of great miracles and deliverance our journey here on earth
before his return would be one of great difficulty and pressure to compromise
so as to fit in with society around us. Those who are bold and obey will
receive great reward here and in the world to come.
Mar 10:29 יהושע said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for
the sake of Me and the Good News,
Mar 10:30 who
shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age
to come, everlasting life.
Mar 10:31 “But
many who are first shall be last, and the last first.”
“Baruch atah YHVH,
Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam
nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, Yahweh giver
of the Torah – Ameyn
Please note these notes
are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final
authority on any subject.